You have to put some thought into your invoicing routine. Simple cobbling together a bill of sale is not the best idea – sure it’s easy enough considering everyone has a word processor on their computer. But making smart use of invoicing practices and implementing a few of the latest cloud-based tools will help you get paid on-time, every time.

Sales Tax: Depending on your jurisdiction and type of business, the tax requirement can get complicated. Be sure to follow instructions from your local tax bureau and include the appropriate tax amount on the invoice. Pro tip: Use an invoicing software to manage your business activities, change tax settings as you want and make your tax time easier.

Templates will help you get your invoice format right, because all the fields are preset. You just have to open it up and fill it out. You can give yourself a head start by setting up templates for specific types of jobs, or certain customers – with a lot of the details already filled out.

The simple truth of the matter is that your customer may just forget to pay your invoice. To plan ahead, we suggest developing a tactful follow-up plan to get paid before things go awry.

Due Date: The Invoice Date plus Payment Term Days give you the Due Date, which is in plain English and easier to understand. Having a Due Date on the invoice is a tactful and professional way of making it clear to your customer when they should pay.